The third game tonight for both the Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings was another sold out affair in Atlanta. Both teams came in at 1-1 on the season and looking to go above .500 early in the schedule.
In the first quarter, Monique Billings had seven points in the first six minutes of the game and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus had six points early for the Dream as they went into the first timeout of the quarter leading Dallas, 16-15. Arike Ogunbowale picked up the pace for the Wings with nine points at the end of the first quarter to give Dallas a 27-26 lead, going into the second period.
The second quarter started off with a three by Maddy Siegrist and Teaira MCCowan with her ninth point of the first half right after to lead the Wings on a 12-3 run to push their lead to 38-29 with seven minutes left in the half. Both teams went back-and- forth the rest of the quarter with Rhyne Howard looking impressive for the Dream but Dallas shot %50 percent in the half to go into the break with a 48-40 lead.
In the third, Atlanta tried to stay close with Allisha Gray hitting a couple of 3-pointers to cut Dallas’ lead to 58-52, with 3:38 to go in the quarter. Dallas then immediately scored two buckets, highlighted by Jacy Sheldon’s layup to give Dallas a 62-52 lead with 1:30 left in the third. Atlanta then went on a 7-0 run to make the score 62-59, heading into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, Atlanta continued their run with ten more points to make a 17-2 spurt to retake the lead, 69-64 with 7:30 left in the period. Atlanta stayed steady the next four minutes in the contest and held a 78-72 advantage with 3:42 to go. Dallas fought back to make it a three-point game with :18 seconds left in the game but Atlanta held off the Wings late and won the game, 83-78 to move to 2-1 on the season, while Dallas falls to 1-2 on their first game of their five game road trip. Allisha Gray led the way with 21 points and three steals on the night for the Dream in their victory.
The Dallas Wings fall to 1-2 on the season and were led by Arike Ohunbowale’s 24 points, while Teaira MCCowan finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Monique Billings also had 20 points and 10 rebounds on the night. The Wings will be back in action Saturday against the Phoenix Mercury in Phoenix at 9:00pm CT, while the Dream will travel to Minnesota on Saturday for a 9:00pm CT tip.
